Buffalo-style Chicken wings

Baseball season, or should I say sports bar season, is here. Which means it's also beer and buffalo wings season.

Yet despite the popularity of buffalo wings  the Buffalo, N.Y., bar that is their reputed birthplace goes through a ton of wings a day  it's a food few people are inclined to make at home.

Mostly that's because we know little about the spicy snack. Contrary to Jessica Simpson's belief, buffalo wings are not made of Buffalo. But to her credit, they don't look much like chicken, either.

A Buffalo-style wing is simply a fried chicken wing cut into two pieces then slathered in a spicy sauce. It became a favorite bar food not long after its supposed invention in 1964 at the Anchor Bar by Teressa Bellissimo, who owned the restaurant with her husband Frank.

They're easy to make at home, and as any fan of fried foods knows, just-out-of-the-oil fried foods can be one of the most succulent and flavorful  if messy  dining experiences.

Start by getting the freshest, largest wings you can find. Skip frozen wings. Freezing causes tiny ice particles to form. These ice crystals become water when the wings thaw, and we all know how oil and water get along.

For easy-to-hold bar food authenticity, the cutting of the wings also is important. Using kitchen shears or a chef's knife, cut off the tip: the pointy part with little meat. You can discard or save for making stock.

Next, spread and straighten the wing, which helps create space in the joint. That's where you cut the wing in two.

An excellent wing should be crispy and juicy, factors determined by how well you fry. For great wings, that means keeping the oil temperature between 350 F and 375 F. An instant read thermometer makes monitoring this easy.

And be sure to bring the chicken to about room temperature before frying. Adding cold chicken to hot oil will have a cooling effect, making it more difficult to maintain the best temperature.

In experimenting with flavor and crispness, I fried the wings dredged in flour, without flour (Buffalo style) and without skin, and found that Buffalo style was best.

Skinless, while healthier, was not crisp or succulent enough. And the flour had little effect on the flavor, but it did dirty the oil, which altered the flavor of later batches.

Of course, a great buffalo wing needs a great sauce.

Ivano Toscani, general manager of the Anchor Bar, wouldn't share the bar's secret recipe. But he did say margarine and Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce were essential. The key to the heat is the ratio of the two because the fat cuts the heat of hot sauce.

Hoping to avoid the trans fats in margarine, I used butter, which worked nicely. I found a 3-to-1 ratio of hot sauce to butter  the magic proportion to achieve a tingly heat without being overwhelming. For extra spark, add a couple tablespoons of white vinegar.

Pat the wings dry with a paper towel, then arrange the wings in a single layer on a baking sheet and allow to sit at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 hour.

If the wings are not already separated, use a heavy knife or cleaver to cut off the tip of the wing at the joint. Spread the wing open, slice through the skin and cut at the joint separating the wing into two pieces.

Season the wings with pepper.

In small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the hot sauce and vinegar. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 225 F. Line a large plate with a thick layer of paper towels.

If you don't have a deep fryer, use a very large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven. Fill with oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Heat over medium until the oil reaches 375 F.

Add wings without crowding pot (about 10 to 15 at a time) and stir once to keep from sticking together.

Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the cooked wings to the paper towel-lined plate to drain, then transfer them to a large bowl.

Drizzle the wings with some of the sauce and toss to coat evenly. Transfer the coated wings to a clean baking sheet or large baking dish and place in the oven to keep warm.

Return the oil to 375 F, then repeat with remaining wings. If the sauce thickens between batches, reheat on stove.